"The founding fathers didn't know about x, y, or z. Things have changed since..Posted by SoulGlo on 1/25/13 at 7:53 pm

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I hear this argument on every discussion about the constitution and its application in today's society. I sometimes call liberal talk shows and discuss topics on the air. Without fail, when they can't refute the language of the Constitution or the meaning behind that language, they drop the call and start talking about how the founders didn't know about life today. They didn't know what weapons we would have. They didn't know about DNA or abortion. Basically, they couldn't see past their own generation into the future.

This is where "the constitution is a living document" mentality comes from. My question is this...

If the framers knew virtually about anything today, why do we still have the constitution? Speech, religion, arms, search technologies, etc have ALL changed. Why is the Constitution rock solid on some things, yet its composers completely ignorant on others? Why mustn't we scrap it and start over, creating a new law regarding every advancement or change of society?

re: "The founding fathers didn't know about x, y, or z. Things have changed since..Posted by Bestbank Tiger on 1/25/13 at 7:57 pm to SoulGlo

It's the appeal to antiquity fallacy, except in reverse. Instead of saying "we should do it this way because we always have" the argument is "we did it this way in the past so we should change".

Anyone who advances that argument is a moron, period. By their "logic", there should be no freedom of speech because it was placed in the Constitution by a bunch of rich white slaveowners. But then, wasn't slavery abolished by a bunch of white men who knew nothing of DNA or atoms or dark matter? So I guess we should repeal the 13th Amendment.

Or we could use the rational approach. If the Constitution prevents us from doing something that needs to be done, we can avail ourselves of the process for amending it.

re: "The founding fathers didn't know about x, y, or z. Things have changed since..Posted by Mike da Tigah on 1/25/13 at 8:27 pm to SoulGlo

The argument of a very shallow and ignorant person. Principles don't change, and neither does man's nature or lust for power and control.

If anything has changed, it's our lack of principles, and for such a supposed enlightened and intelligent people with the answers to life's mysteries only a mouse click away, we sure are some dumb and misled fools.

just because our supreme court was hijacked by radicals during the new deal (under threats from a shitty president) doesn't mean that it was a good step or that we just have to accept the shitty law they promoted

the knockout blow was the court under the civil rights era, who made the federal government a monolith to purposefully avoid the actual written words of the constitution. they saw results and molded the law to get the results